Heart Of A Dragon
by Dreaming In Green
Summary: The Weasley family gains a new addition, but not in a way you expect. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

_**Heart of a Dragon**_

_Chapter 1_ _Charlie's News_

"Ugh, why are we going to see Charlie?" Fred moaned, "We never get to do anything fun when we go!"

"He's your bother, that's why." Molly Weasley replied tartly. "Hurry up and wake Ron, we're leaving soon!"

He growled as he stomped up the staircase leading up to his youngest brothers' room. "Oi!" He yelled as he opened the door, "Get your lazy bum outta the bed or we're leaving you behind!"

Ron sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, mumbling something incoherent about bacon. Satisfied, Fred left in search for his twin. After several minutes of fruitless searching, he found George sitting at the kitchen table with a bored look on his face as he pretended to be listening to what his father was speaking so enthusiastically about. George perked up when he saw his twin enter the room, glad to be excused from his father's ramblings.

"Oh. Good morning Fred." Arthur said, sounding a tad deflated, "I was just telling your brother here about Charlie's new assistant!" He perked up at the thought of being able to share his story with a new set of ears. "Despite her young age Charlie says she is quite talented, a real natural he calls her. Says he's never seen anyone so at ease with the great beasts as she is" He continued his rambling praises of this new girl in Charlie's life.

"Wait. You said 'she'. And just how young is 'young'?" Fred asked incredulously, confusion clouding his face.

"Well she is only in her third year at Hogwarts, so that puts her at about twelve, and yes. I said she, her name is Jewell. Charlie was on official Ministry business capturing a rouge dragon somewhere of the coast of southern Britain when he found her. She was living in an orphanage in town at the time. She was on her way to a farm a few miles down the road from the orphanage when she stumbled upon Charlie and his crew."

"So you mean he just met some random little girl on the side of the road and took her home with him?" Fred asked with sincerity.

"Yes, and Dad hasn't stopped talking about her since" George grumbled miserably.

"Now George, don't be like that when we get there, she's nervous enough meeting all of us as it is, she doesn't need your sour attitude running her off" His mother scolded.

"Don't worry Dad!" Fred cried with an air of importance resounding in is tone, "I'll have him whipped into shape in no time!" With that he grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him up to their bedroom; where he unceremoniously dumped him onto his bed. "Why on Earth would Charlie do something this stupid?" Fred wailed at his bother.

"What do you mean?"

"Why would he do something as stupid as adopt a little kid to be his assistant? SHE'S ONLY TWELVE FOR CHRISTS' SAKE! He won't even let us touch his equipment shed, so why would he purposely bring a girl younger than us into the field with him?"

"I don't know, but Dad said a bunch of stuff about her having a way with the dragons; maybe he trusts her enough to allow her to put herself in his situation. Maybe he sees something in her he was never able to see in us." George shrugged as he hopped off of his bed. "Whatever his reasoning, we need to finish packing"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2 _ _The Couple on the Hill_

On top of a large hill sat a couple. From a distance; one might believe it was a romantic couple, upon closer inspection; a father and a daughter would be assumed. On the left sat a girl of medium height and a slim build. She had honey blond hair with a slight redness left over from an incident with Muggle hair dye (more commonly known as Kool Aid). Her hair came past her shoulders, barely brushing her waist when it was let down; but in its current side braid it merely landed past her shoulders. She had bright blue eyes that changed shades with her emotions On her right sat a man; he was a tall, gangly man with eyes as green as the rolling grass beneath his feet, and as many freckles on his long frame as there are stars in the sky. The most noticeable attribute of this striking man was the fire red hair he wore in a long ponytail at the nape of his neck.

At the bottom of this hill sat a peculiar assortment of quilts and blankets, and a number of other bedding items. They appeared to be in the formation of a landing sight of sorts.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_ _The Arrival_

"Alright is everyone here?" asked Mr. Weasley as his family reached the hill and stared at an unsightly boot. He called roll, establishing that Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione were all, in fact, present.

"Now children," began Mrs. Weasley, "this is a portkey, it's going to take to Charlie's place in Romania. All you have to do is take a firm grasp on your luggage with one hand, and a firm grasp on the boot with the other. Is that clear?" All heads nodded in understanding and did as instructed. The group went shooting up in the air with scream of delight and fright alike resonating in the air. A few moments later they landed on a soft patch of assorted pillows and quilts.

"There! See I told you it would be enough!" came the exasperated voice of the man on the hill known as Charlie. "I told you to stop fretting Jewell!" He chastised the girl next to him as they trotted down the hill in order to greet the group that had just fallen from the sky moments before. Many grumbles of pain of confusion were heard from the group on the ground as the two approached them. Charlie bent down to grasp the outstretched hands of his mother and father and embraced them once they were on their feet. "It's so good to see you all!" he boomed happily.

Jewell helped up Harry and Ginny with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. "Hi, I'm Jewell, Charlie's assistant" she mumbled softly as she moved on to help the twins, repeating the same greeting. Once Charlie had helped up Ron and Hermione he began a round of hugs. After hugging all his family members, and their guests, he cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Everyone? I'd like you all to meet Jewell, my new assistant! She's very pleased to meet you all, despite her shy nature. She is an excellent hostess and will make you all very comfortable while you are here." He said all this as he scooped her up to his side and held her as if she were his daughter. "Shall I go around and introduce everybody? Right then; that's Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione" pointing to each one as he said their name, each one giving a wave of acknowledgement.

"Em…. Hi everybody, like he said, I'm Jewell. I'm a second year Hufflepuff, um and I play violin…. Well um welcome to our home!" she said brightly.

"Alright, now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, shall we get settled then?" Mr. Weasley asked to no one in particular. A collective groan went up from the children as they thought of the prospect of having to haul their entire luggage up the gargantuan hill in front of them.

Jewell chuckled at their faces, all showing expressions of extreme discomfort, as they began tugging their trunks out of the pile of assorted pillows and quilts. "Nah, it's alright I got it!" They all looked at her with bemused looks.

"And how, exactly, do plan on getting ALL of our trunks up that hill?" asked a cocky Fred.

"Like this" she said with a smirk as she reached over her shoulder to swing around her backpack to face the front of her body. She opened it and rummaged around for a moment, eventually pulling out a small object with a triumphant smile. She turned around and shook it out, as she did so it expanded to reveal its true nature; a large rug.

"I hate to be rude, but how is a shrinking carpet supposed to do you any good?" asked a slightly amused Hermione.

Jewell shot Hermione a look while muttering an indecipherable word. As she said the word the carpet slowly rose off the ground, hovering just below her waist. Everyone, minus Charlie, stared at the carpet with open mouths. Jewell started collecting their trunks when the twins jaws snapped closed.

"Here, let us help you" George said as they deposited their own trunks on top of the carpet. The others soon followed suit.

"I'm just gonna take these up to the house and put them in your rooms. Jewell said as she hopped on the front of the carpet, and with a friendly wave, she zoomed up the hill toward the large house at the top.

"So what do you guys think?" Charlie inquired happily.

"WHY DOES SHE GET A FLYING CARPET?" Harry and Ron shriek simultaneously.

Charlie chuckled at the young boys' outburst, "Because she is in charge of moving around a lot of equipment in our work. And she can't just use magic for any of it. And most times using your wand isn't practical. Several of the other assistants of my coworkers prefer using flying carpets for safety and simplicity reasons."

"That's so cool! What do you ride to work then?" Ron asked.

"I've got a broom"

"Oh." Ron's face fell slightly.

"Well we should get started up towards the house then. Besides, I'm sure if you ask later on, she'd be happy to give you all rides." Charlie told them all, and delighted at the bright looks they all acquired the exciting news.

"I'm famished, what's for lunch?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Ginny, don't be rude!" scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"I have to agree." Said Percy as the others nodded their agreement.

"That's quite alright Mother, Jewell prepared quite the feast. She cooked an entire roast chicken, mashed potato, green bean casserole, broccoli, baked beans, corned beef, fresh bread, and all sorts of deserts and sweets. She was intent on making a good impression on all of you, I'm afraid she went all out for you. But don't get too used to it. She still has to work this summer and won't be around to be your personal chef all summer."

"That's all right dear, I'll do the cooking" replied Mrs. Weasley.

"Thanks mom!" chorused all the Weasley children, including Hermione and Harry.

When they approached the house Jewell walked out and yelled at the top of her lungs, "OI HURRY UP DINNER'S ON THE TABLE!" With that she turned around and went back inside. Everyone had the same idea at the same moment; they all took off running towards the house. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley lagged behind contentedly watching their family enjoy themselves.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_After Dinner_~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"That was fantastic Jewell; you really are as good a cook as Charlie made you out to be!" Fred praised as George nodded his agreement enthusiastically.

"Yeah this cake is really good!" Ron exclaimed, with said cake projecting all over the table as he spoke. Hermione bent her head in shame as she grabbed a rag and began cleaning Ron's mess as Harry glared at him to stop talking.

Jewell blushed and looked down at the table to hide her embarrassed smile. "Thanks guys" she mumbled, almost incoherently. "Well now that Ron's done", she gave him a pointed look that clearly said 'you're done', and "I'll show you to your rooms." She stood up and looked back to make sure everyone was following her. She walked down a short hallway, and stopped in front of a doorway adjacent to a staircase, "Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." She gestured grandly toward the doorway, allowing them to pass into the room as she did so.

"Thank you dear!" Mrs. Weasley beamed at her, "But do call us Arthur and Molly?"

"Yes ma'am" Jewell replied bashfully. She quickly turned toward the staircase and began to ascend. Once at the top she stopped, and turned around to face the group on the stairway behind her. "Boys on the left, girls on the right. Boys, I'll show you your rooms first." She turned left and walked past two doorways before abruptly spinning around to face the boys once again. She points to the doorway on the left, "This is the BOYS bathroom, I cannot stress this enough. BOYS! You will not, under any circumstances, use the bathroom on the other side of the hall! And keep it clean, you'll all be sharing it with Charlie while you're here. And it's your responsibility to clean it. NOT. MINE." She gives them all a careful death glare to emphasize her point. She gestures toward the doorway on the right, Charlie's room. You are to knock before entering, if you don't get a reply, don't enter."

Fred and George gave each other pointed looks saying 'yeah right' and looked back at her.

"I mean it you guys, this is his house, give him some respect, at the very least some privacy?" At this point Jewell was practically begging, giving them both puppy dog eyes.

"Well since you put it that way, I guess we could give him a break." They say together.

"Thank you, moving on!" She walked a bit further down the hallway, again stopping between two doorways. "Door on the left; Fred and George, door on the right; Harry and Ron." She smiles at Percy apologetically, "I'm really sorry, but there aren't enough rooms on this floor to hold you, so you have to sleep in the room upstairs, it's a bit small, but should accommodate you nicely. You just go through that door, up the stairs, and it's the first door on the right. The door directly across from it is your bathroom; at least you get your own?" She shrugs. "I'll see if the girls already found their room. Then I'll show you around upstairs, there's more that just Percy's room up there."

"Haha, I get my own room, my own bathroom; and all on my own floor!" Percy gloated as he walked down the hall. The other boys glared at his back the whole time.

"Don't worry guys; he won't be gloating once he realizes how crappy that room is." Jewell said as she shook her head in sympathy.

The twins looked at each other, "What do you mean?"

"The ventilation up there sucks, and it stays in the sun all day. It's friggin' hot up there in that room; all the other rooms are fine; but not that one."

The boys chuckled before turning to check out their rooms. "I'll come to get you guys as soon as I get the girls set?" They all nodded their agreement.

She turned down the hall and walked toward the girls, who were sitting in the hallway quietly chatting. When Jewell saw them she gasped in worry, "You guys I am so sorry, I should've just told where your room is first! I'm SOOOO sorry!" she exclaimed with regret evident in her voice.

They stood up and dusted themselves off, "Nah its okay, we just didn't want to go peeking around in the rooms in case there was something you didn't want us to see." Ginny said casually.

"Besides, you have really comfy carpet, so it's all good." Hermione said.

"Well I'm glad you like my choice in décor," Jewell chuckled lightly to herself, "well this door on the left here is the bathroom, and the one on the right is mine; I'll show you my room in a minute if you want." She walked a small ways down the hallway and pointed to both doors, putting her hands up in an Egyptian-style pose. "I didn't know if guys wanted you wanted your own rooms; or if you wanted to share so I got both rooms ready just in case. Both are normally outfitted for two people anyway, so all I'd have to do would be to move your luggage."

"Thanks, we were planning on sharing anyway, not knowing how big Charlie's house was gonna be, so we'll just stick to sharing." Ginny said, speaking for the both of them.

"Cool, well then here's your room here on the left. The other rooms are just guest bedrooms by the way. You guys check out your room, and come get me when you're ready to see the third floor. Oh! I almost forgot, the door at the end of the hall is the easiest way to get to the third floor, but I'm gonna take you guys up the boys' stairs since I have to get them anyway."

"Alright" The girls said together.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_ _New Beginnings_

"Hey, we're ready" Ginny popped her head in Jewell's room.

"Alright, I'll get the boys. Meet me in the middle of the hall." Jewell walked out of her room and walked to the twins' room. She banged on the door, "If you're not decent you have about five seconds to either get that way or hide!" she yelled at the door.

"Come on in!" shouted one of them (George, she thought, but she couldn't tell through the door).

Jewell walked in and announced, "We're going upstairs now; wait for me with the girls." They both nodded their agreement. Jewell turned around and put her hand up to knock on Ron and Harry's door when Harry opened the door. Her fist knocked him straight in the nose. "OH MY GOODNESS HARRY I'M SO SORRY!" Jewell screamed.

"Ow, that really hurt! I think you broke my nose!" Harry shouted at her, giving no regard to her apology.

"Oh jeez, let's get you to the bathroom. I'll clean you up and see what I can do about fixing your nose." Jewell replied hurriedly. Harry just continued holding his bleeding nose and headed into the bathroom. Jewell wet a towel and began cleaning his nose. When she was done she peered at his nose trying to determine whether or not it was broken.

She held his nose in his hands, about to snap it back in place when harry suddenly reared back and screeched, "No! Don't touch it! You've done enough!"

Jewell sighed and shook her head. "Harry hold still, I've done this loads of times before; Charlie breaks his nose all the time."

"Well, I suppose. But if you mess up my nose…." Harry trailed off, not knowing what exactly he would do if she did mess up his nose. With that she snapped his nose back, and he grimaced with the pain.

"Now that's done; shall we go upstairs?" She asked everyone assembled at the door, watching the events unfold. They all nodded and trooped out into the hall once again. Jewell led them up the staircase directly across from the stairs. When they emerged; they stood in an alcove, with a large library directly in front of them, and a few doors to either side. "Well this is the library; you're all welcome up here anytime you wish. And the door to the left is my music room; you aren't allowed in there unless I say so."

"This is magnificent!" Declared Hermione excitedly as she rushed into the library and immediately selected a book and sat down in one of the many large reading chairs scattered around the area.

"Can we see your music room?" George inquired innocently.

"Sure…" Jewell said, wondering what George was up to.

She led them all down the hall, "Okay, I can't exactly remember the last time I cleaned up in here," Jewell started, "So it might be a little messy." she put her fingers close together; emphasizing little. Jewell opened the door, and they all gasped. The room itself is quite simple, but over the months she had made it her own. There were origami creatures that she had made out of old sheet music hanging from the ceiling, placed bookshelves around the room so as to create a 'music library' of sorts, and all of her violins hanging carefully on wall pedestals.

"Well isn't this just fancy!" cried Fred with much sarcasm.

"If you don't like it; get out. I spent a lot of time on this room, and if all you're going to do is insult me; then fine, but go do it somewhere else." Jewell said coolly.

Fred put his hands up in an 'I give up' gesture. "Jeez don't have to be so snappy! I was only kidding; it really is nice."

"Why are you so bipolar?" Harry asked Jewell.

"Growing up in a kids' home; you learn to defend yourself quickly in an argument to prevent fighting. I've been trying to stop doing that; but old habits die hard. Sorry about that."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well if you don't mind I'm gonna go unpack." Several other children nodded their heads as well and began dispersing.

Fred and George took this opportunity to ask Jewell all of their questions. They turned on her and advanced toward her. Jewell, however, anticipated this move; and was prepared. She swiftly sidestepped the lamp that was behind her and jumped over the couch, landing neatly in front of the boys' awestruck faces. Expecting a torrent of questions from the curious twins, Jewell suggested, "Why don't we make ourselves comfortable in my room?"

**Author's Note!**

**Hey! Sorry for not uploading in a while! It's been kind of hectic around here, and I haven't gotten a chance on the computer before now to upload! Hopefully once school starts up I can upload on a regular basis. I know this is a really short chapter ad I'm sorry! I just needed to get something up! The next chapter will be better I promise! Goodbye loves!  
**

**Hugs and Kisses,  
**

**Dreaming In Green  
**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_ _Life Stories_

Upon arriving in her room Jewell waved the boys over to a window bench. When they had all gotten comfortable Fred blurted out, "Why you? What makes you so special?"

Jewell smiled at this question. "I don't know. Charlie and I met on a fluke; I wasn't supposed to see him, or what he was doing. At the time I was an unsuspecting Muggle; I shouldn't have been able to see anything. But I did; and I saved his life. While he was speaking to me a dragon came up behind him and almost toasted him; but I tackled him first. Then I did the only logical thing to do; I approached the dragon and scratched it behind the ears. I named him Hazza; he lives on the reservation now."

Fred and George stared at her with open mouths. '_This girl is absolutely stark raving bonkers.' _George thought to himself. "So what house are you in, I haven't ever seen you around."

"Hufflepuff" she replied simply.

It was Fred's turn to be astonished, "You mean to tell me that tackling grown men to the ground to save them from a fire-breathing dragon and then petting said dragon behind the ears to calm it down is normal Hufflepuff behavior?"

"Well not normal really, no one else my age is a dragon worker. The only difference between Hufflepuffs and the other houses is that we don't like to talk about our accomplishments. Take me for instance; unless someone directly asks me a question related to my work, I don't talk about it. I feel like if I talk about it I'm boasting; and that's not the type of person I am." Jewell shrugged as if this was common knowledge.

George shook his head in bemusement, "You're really something you know that?"

Jewell let out a hearty laugh, "That's what Charlie tells me! Well boys this has been a lovely chat and all, but I'm gonna hit the sack. Tomorrow is vaccination day" Jewell changed her expression to one of fake cheeriness, "Which is always fun!" the sarcasm evident in her voice.

The boys chuckled and simultaneously called out, "Night Jewell!" as they exited her room. When George closed the door Jewell collapsed onto her bed, 'Well that was exhausting' She thought to herself. She sighed and heaved herself out of bed and changed into _**Kenmare Kestrels**_ pajamas; her favorite Irish Quidditch team.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Prove Me Wrong

'_What am I going to do with them? I'm not exactly Miss Social; more like Miss Socially Awkward Turtle! I can't even remember the last time I talked to someone outside of work. This is going to be a disaster.' _Jewell thought to herself as she fell asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In Hermione and Ginny's Room ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So what do you think her house is?" Ginny asked.

"Definitely a Slytherin! We would have noticed if she was in our house, and she's got the whole 'scary bi-polar' thing going for her." Harry answered, Hermione looked thoughtful and Ron shook his head in agreement.

"I don't know; she seems too nice to be a Slytherin…..." Ginny said uncertainly.

"We can't just stereotype all Slytherins by the few we have come in contact with; so we can't rule out Slytherin just yet. But there is no way she is a Hufflepuff! I have never met a brave Hufflepuff in my life, and I know quite a few Hufflepuffs!" Hermione stated matter-of-factly.

The others all nodded their agreement. "Well we better be heading off to bed now. Night girls!" Ron said merrily.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ In Fred and George's Room ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I can't believe she's a Hufflepuff! That's bloody insane! I've never met a Hufflepuff that could ever be so brave as to save another person from a dragon!" Fred said incredulously.

"I don't know mate; it seems legit to me, you heard her. The whole 'we're as good as you, we just don't show it' thing; I guess it could be true." George shrugged.

"Well we'll just have to see about that then, won't we?" The mischievous glint in Fred's eyes made George giddy with excitement.

"What are you planning?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Next Morning ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jewell woke up at a quarter to four as usual. She grabbed her clothes for the day; a pair of olive green army fatigues and a black tee-shirt, and walked across the hall to her bathroom. She showered and completed her morning routine. When she was dressed she put her long hair into a side braid, and placing a rolled up bandana over it to keep her bangs out of her face.

She walked out of the bathroom and marched over to Charlie's room, opened the door, and jumped on top of his sleeping form. "Morning Charlie boy! It's a new day, wake up and greet it with a smile!" Charlie sat up and gave her a half-hearted grimace. "That works too…" Jewell climbed off of Charlie, "Breakfast in five, we've vaccinations today, we need to be outta the house by six.  
Charlie grunted in response.

Jewell made her way downstairs and glanced at the clock as she entered the kitchen. She began working on breakfast; being that she is an underage wizard she uses Muggle methods of cooking. She turns the kettle on for coffee, etc.

"What's for breakfast?" Charlie mumbles as he stumbles into the kitchen, clearly half-asleep.

"Eggs and toast" Jewell replied as she cracked four eggs into a mixing bowl.

"I'll get the jam"

"You do that" Jewell chuckled as Charlie opened the broom closet instead of the ice-box. "Do you want to wake the others? I know they said they wanted to see us at work?"

"Yeah, after breakfast though, make enough for them. Let Mum and Dad sleep." Jewell handed Charlie a mug of steaming, fresh brewed coffee. He took a sip and sighed in satisfaction. "What did I ever do without you, Jewells?"

Jewell shook her head and chuckled, "I honestly don't know." She quickly added more eggs to her pan to accommodate the extra guests, and put in another loaf of bread. "Now that you're awake, could you set the table for me? And put that bottle of cleaning stuff back in the broom closet if you don't mind, you grabbed it instead of the jam again." Charlie blushed slightly and mumbled something about 'silly little girl' as he set to work on his task.

Jewell grabbed a large metal pot and a wooden spoon and ran upstairs, when she reached the top she started banging the pot and yelling, "ALRIGHT YOU SLEEPYHEADS! IT'S TIME TO GET UP; BREAKFAST IS ON THE TABLE, AND THE LAST ONE UP GETS TO CLEAN UP!" Almost immediately indignant shouts about the time of morning could be heard from the rooms. Jewell smirked and ran back downstairs.

"Simple, but effective; I like it." Charlie commented when she approached the cabinet to put the pot back. She gave him a sly grin over her shoulder in response.

Footsteps could be heard running down the stairs at alarming seeds, Jewell quickly spread some butter and jam on two pieces of toast and got out of the way of the table. Fred and George came running down first, followed by Harry and Ron. Hermione and Ginny took a little more time making their way down the stairs, but still making it to the table before a still-asleep Percy.

Jewell put her two pieces of toast together to form and jam and butter sandwich, smirking at Percy as she did so. 'Percy mate, I hate to break this to you, but you have kitchen clean-up duty."

Percy looked at her with large, pleading eyes, "But, but, WHY?"

"Didn't you hear her yellin'? She said the last one up had to clean up." Charlie told his younger brother sternly.

Percy glared at the young girl, not liking being bossed around by her one bit. She shrugged as she walked out the door; calling out over her shoulder, "I'm gonna go check the equipment and make sure everything is all ready at the clinic! See ya' later!" She turned the corner and began down the path toward the supplies' shed. '_I wonder how today is gonna go; I've never had an audience before. At least not one I was aware of; and not one I cared to impress so much. These people are important; they're Charlie's family. I really hope I don't screw this up.' _She thought to herself as she sifted through her tools, checking off the things she would need for the day in her head. Once she was satisfied in the organization, she finished the last bite of her sandwich and jogged back to the house to grab her bag and put on her work boots.

She stopped short when she leaned for the door handle; only to have it swing back, revealing a startled George. "I was just going out to look for you, Charlie said you would need these" He held up her boots and her backpack.

"Thanks, I was just coming back for that! Hey, do you mind doing me a favor?" She asked with enthusiasm.

"Sure" George eagerly replied, almost too quickly.

"Get everyone to meet me in front of the house; I'll give you a ride to work."

George nodded and ducked back into the house. Jewell sat on the front steps to lace her boots before dusting herself off and returning to the shed to pack all the things she had readied before. Once she was absolutely positive everything was accounted for she started up her magic carpet and rode it to the front side of the house to collect the other children.

"Alright, I can have one person next to me, and the rest of you can situate yourselves behind us. I don't care how, as long as you don't move around too much you'll be fine. I would suggest lying down so as to catch a view of the sky; it's really awesome to watch the clouds zoom by like that. So; who's sitting next to me? And where is Percy, did he get mad and decide to stay behind?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, "Something like that…" Hermione trailed off, giving the twins a pointed look.

Fred perked up and said, "Georgie would be honored to sit next to you Miss….. Um, what IS your last name?"

"Clauss"

"Well then, Miss Clauss, as I began earlier; my twin here would be delighted to sit next to you on our journey across the field."

"Is that so Mr. Weasley?" Jewell asked Fred with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Quite"

"Well then, George, if you will wait for the others to get themselves situated you and I can get ourselves seated in the front." She gave a slight bow at the waist and flourished her arm forward, indicating to the others that they should climb on. They all clambered on; giving themselves enough room to stretch out to observe the sky. Once they were all lying comfortably Jewell looked to George and gestured that he should climb on as well. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear "You don't need to lie down, watching the front is a much better view."

When Jewell finally took her place at the pilot's seat, she turned to everyone and asked if they were ready, after receiving affirmatives from all present company, she took off across the wide field. Seas of emerald green stalks swam underneath them as they zoomed farther and farther toward the forest. "Why are we going to the forest, I thought we going to watch you and Charlie?"

"You are, but our base of operations is just beyond the woods. I mean, come on, do you expect us to keep all these dragons out in the open? Sure there are plenty of protection spells all over the place, but putting all this in plain sight is just BEGGING for trouble!"

"Well I suppose that does make more sense, but where do all the other live? The other workers I mean, why don't they all live out here too?"

"Same reason all the Ministry workers don't all live in London."

"Perhaps I should have thought that one through?" George replied with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Perhaps"

"So other than all this dragon stuff, what do you do for fun?"

"I ride my carpet, and I play my violin. But my favorite thing to do is to read. I absolutely love books, when I was a little girl; I wouldn't do anything other than read all day. Although I've always loved the outdoors; so normally you could find me in a tree with my nose in a book. What about you?"

"I'm a prankster!" George said with pride in his voice.

"Well I know that, do you seriously think I've been going to Hogwarts for two years and _haven't _heard of the Weasley twins?"

"It's nice to know that our reputation is as wide spread as we like to believe!" Fred called forward jovially.

"Bugger off, if you wanted to talk to her you should've sat by her!" George countered.

Jewell let out a brief bark of laughter, before stifling it into a fit of giggles. "I'm sorry; I've never been around twins quite like you before! Of course I've heard of you, but I never knew you two were really like this!"

"Of course we are! We're natural born entertainers; Fred and I!"

"Well, it's nice to know that I'll never be bored! On that note, we're here." Jewell jumped off the carpet and took her wand out of her bag, and tapped it three times against a knot in one of the trees. She hopped back on and slowly began forward.

"What was that all about?"

"It temporarily disarms the protection spells around the camp so that we can get in and out quickly without having to completely undo the spells every time. It also decreases the vulnerability time; or the amount of time we are exposed to the Muggle world."

"Oh." Was all he said in reply. They traveled a few more yards forward until a large tent appeared in front of them.

"It's bigger on the inside. That right there is our main headquarters, everything is in there; labs, offices, break rooms, you name it." She got off once again and waited for the others to get off as well.

"That was bloody incredible!" Ron exclaimed.

Jewell laughed at this, "There's absolutely nothing like it! And you know what's funny? I'm awful at flying on a broom!" Jewell laughed even harder at herself. Everyone looked at her with astonished expressions.

"You mean there is someone who can fly WORSE than Hermione?!" Ron asked.

"RONALD!" Hermione slapped his arm and gave him a death glare.

Jewell scratched the back of her head, and replied, "I guess so. Well; now that I have embarrassed myself, let's get to work shall we?" Jewell ducked into the flap opening of the tent, revealing what looked like an entire SKYSCRAPER on the inside.

Everyone (excluding Jewell of course; this WAS her place of work, and the novelty of the tent had long since worn off on her) looked around in awe; not believing that such a large place fit into a tent roughly the size of a Big Top. Jewell strutted forward, after a few moments and looked back to find them all still staring. "If you want to see how big it really is, why don't you follow me?" Jewell asked with a smile playing at her lips.

The others sprinted forward to catch up with her. As they walked through the halls and up the stairways, many greetings could be heard throughout, all aimed at Jewell. She greeted them all with a smile and a wave.

"Wow, you must really be something, huh?" Harry asked.

Jewell just shrugged, "Not really, but when you are the only twelve year old employed to work as a dragon handler in the entire history of the job, people tend to know your name."

"I'm sure that's not true, you have to be something special if you beat all those odds and saved Charlie's life that day. Besides, people don't normally approve of children in the workplace, so if they didn't think you worthy of their praises; they would instead mock you." Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"I suppose. Well here we are; this is the main lab. I just have to get the vaccinations and we'll be on our way. Until then, meet Jeffrey; our Head of Potions!" Jewell gestured toward a well built man appearing in his early twenties.

"Mornin' Jewell! These must be the Weasley kids Charlie's been so excited about?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yup", Jewell said, popping the 'p' "They just arrived yesterday and wanted to come see what it is Charlie and I do every day."

"Well that should be fun. Do you have the syringes ready for me?"

"Right here, let me get 'um out." Jewell took off her backpack and began taking out several large syringes and needles. Once she was sure they were all accounted for she stepped back so Jeffrey could fill them with the appropriate potions, and label them accordingly. When he was done he turned to them again.

"So which one of you is Ron? I bet it's you" Jeffrey pointed at Ron. Ron nodded, "I hear you were the one who gave us that Hungarian Hornback? Am I right?"

"Yes sir, that's correct." Ron replied nervously.

"And that you're best friends with Harry Potter?"

"He's right here actually." Ron shuffled toward Harry slightly. Harry waved a nervous 'hello'.

"It's so good to meet you Harry! Jewell has told me all about your adventures at school! Such a brave boy, it's good to know that you live up to the fame! What a shame it would have been if you turned out to be a normal boy! Well we don't have to worry about that now do we?" Jeffrey gushed. "I'm sorry, that was weird. I get excited when I meet new people and I frequently spaz out like that. I do apologize."

"Well Jeffrey, I had to kill this little awkward moment you've just created; but I have work to do. See you at lunch then?"

"As usual!"

With that Jewell ushered the others out into the hallway; where they took another confusing set of hallways and ended up outside; in front of several cages all containing large dragons.

"Here we are! Just to let you know; the dragons aren't usually caged like this. We have to cage them during vaccinations to prevent them from running away; they don't like shots much, I can't say I don't blame them. Come on, I'll show you Hazza, and Harry and Ron can have a reunion with Norbert." Jewell walked over to a large cage containing a large black dragon.

"Is that…" Harry trailed off as Jewell began to coo.

"That's right Norbert, I brought you some old friends, and do you remember Harry, Ron, and Hermione?"

"That's just plain scary" mumbled Fred.

"What is? Norbert, he's harmless really; well unless you're giving him a shot or otherwise provoking him…"

"No. I meant the fact that you are speaking to a 60 foot dragon like you would a child!"

"You do realize he's only three years old right? How else am I supposed to talk to him?"

"She's got a point there Freddy!" chided George gleefully.

"Humph!" Fred crossed his arms over his chest in defeat.

Jewell led them across the cages to stop in front of a cage with a bright orange dragon inside. She poked her arm into the cage and started cooing, "Here boy. Come one Hazza; come meet your new friends.

The dragon slowly shuffled forward; as if in apprehension. "Bloody magnificent" mumbled George. Jewell turned slightly and beamed at him.

"He is isn't he? Would you like to pet him?" At this Charlie walked up with a slightly startled look on his face; which he quickly wiped away with a smile.

"Introducing everyone eh, Jewell?" He turned to the George and the rest, "I'll have you know Hazza is her baby, she treats him better than all the others, and he's spoiled rotten. Good thing for her he can never be released into the wild."

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"His wings were broken by an older dragon, that's why he was so hostile the first time I met him; he was scared and in pain." Jewell said sadly.

"Can I pet him now?" asked George.

Jewell nodded her head and motioned him forward with a smile. "Here, put your arm next to mine so he can see you aren't a threat."

George did what she said and peered at her curiously, "How will this show him I'm not a threat?"

"He'll see I trust you, and he's smell me when he smells you; it'll make him less afraid to smell something familiar. He's very apprehensive around new people. You have to remember he's a child too; a child that's been bullied and abused. And just like any child that's been threatened; he isn't very trusting." Jewell spoke from experience.

"You seem to know an awful lot about that." Said Ginny quietly; also feeling a relation to the dragon's feelings.

Jewell and Charlie shared a look of understanding before she nodded. As she moved her head, Hazza took the last few steps separating his head and George's hand and sniffed. Jewell smiled in excitement as Hazza then placed his forehead against George's palm. "He likes you!" she squealed in excitement.

"May I pet him too?" Hermione asked with apprehension in her voice; as if afraid of being rejected.

"Of course! Come stand next to me and put your arm out like mine."

Hazza shuffled over to sniff Hermione's hand as he did George's and pushed his nose against her palm in the same manner. She smiled in delight, still fearing the great beast before her, but appreciating the gentle gesture of acceptance.

One by one each member of the group put their hands in the cage and received a similar act of acceptance.

"Alright, Jewell and I have to get to work now, so why don't you all go inside and talk to Jeffrey? I would invite you to watch; but we have vaccinations today, and those can get pretty gruesome. Plus it's too dangerous and anyone outside of the dragon ministry is required to leave for the duration of the process. I sounded like Percy just then…" They all left and went back inside the tent.

Jewell grimaced, "I suppose we should get to work…" Charlie mirrored her reaction and headed off to the first dragon on the list.


End file.
